My reviewers, I love you guys.
Guest: I'm glad you liked the Judy and Don flashback.
Max2013: You are so right.
"Judy is pregnant," Don repeated, feeling like someone had just knocked the wind out of him. He glanced at each of them in turn, wondering if he had heard right. "Judy is pregnant?"
"Affirmative," the Robot confirmed, his bubble popping up. "My sensors indicate that she is fifteen weeks, four days-"
"Oh, will you shut it, you babbling booby?!" Dr. Smith exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "We don't need you to be so precise. Just say affirmative and then can it."
"Affirmative." The Robot's voice was almost petulant.
Don gripped the elevator's bars, trying to keep steady. Maureen moved towards him, her expression concerned. "Don, are you all right?" She scrutinized his appearance, noticing the paleness of his face.
"I'm fine," Don affirmed, his mind reeling. Judy's pregnant. We're gonna have a baby. She's going to be a mother. And I'm going to be a father.
"Major, in my professional opinion…" Smith trailed off when Don glared at him. He directed his next words to Maureen. "I think he's fine."
"I just need to go find Judy," Don insisted. His eyes widened as he comprehended the erratic way she had been acting for the past few days. How he could tell something was bothering her. "Does she know?" Why wouldn't she have told him? Why did he have to hear it from her father and the Robot?
"She has so much on her mind lately that she missed the signs," Maureen explained, fixing her hair something Don recognized Judy would do when she was nervous. "I blurted out if it was possible that she was pregnant. She said there was a possibility and then she ran off. I thought she just needed some time to think. To process." It was clear she was blaming herself for not going after her daughter.
"I'll find her," repeated Don.
"No, you stay here. I'll find her." John had been quiet after his earlier outburst. Now he strode to the elevator, still looking furious. "She's my daughter."
Is he serious right now? Don could feel his temper spiking. He just learned he is going to be a grandfather and he's treating me like I'm the enemy.
"Is that another order?" he asked, shooting daggers at the older man.
The professor held his gaze, not backing down in the slightest. "If you want to take it that way, then fine. It's an order, Major."
Don drew himself up. "Judy is your daughter, Professor, but she is the woman I want to marry and the future mother of my child."
"And what kind of life will your child have?" John demanded, his voice raised. "Growing up as we travel through space, facing dangers every day. This isn't some fun family road trip."
Don couldn't help but be reminded of a certain space cowboy who had said something similar four years ago, when Professor Robinson had asked him to take Will and Penny back to Earth. "I suppose they will have the same life your children have."
John's expression darkened. "Don't go there."
"Or what?" The major wasn't backing down. In fact, he crossed his arms over his chest, daring him to try something.
"ENOUGH!" Maureen shouted, looking as though she was restraining herself from slapping them both upside the head. "You two listen to me. Judy is out there, probably scared and anxious. And we don't know what the storms are like on this planet so anything could happen to her."
"Maureen…" John began, only to trail off when his wife shot him a warning glare.
The Robinson matriarch took a big breath. "John Sims Robinson, I will tell you the same thing my sister's husband told her when I found out I was pregnant: I'm just as upset as you that they weren't careful. But what is done is done and there is no use getting angry about it."
She then turned towards Don. "And you see here, Donald Mark West, Penny and Will were trained and prepared for living in space. What we were not prepared for was getting lost out here. But we managed it. We have faced every danger together, beat impossible odds. And do you know how?"
Don and John exchanged a meaningful glance, suspecting the knew what answer she was looking for. "Because we stuck together."
"Exactly. So let's go find my daughter!" Maureen finished before shoving past both men and entering the lift, pushing the button to go to the upper level.
"Now that was an order," Don quipped.
Despite himself, John couldn't help but laugh. "Well we better follow her before she takes off without us."
They pushed the button to bring the elevator back down before climbing in and going up to the upper lever. They did so without looking at each other, neither quite willing to apologize just yet.
Will and Penny were waiting for them. "What's going on? We heard raised voices. Mom went straight for the Chariot, saying she was going looking for Judy."
"We will have a family meeting when we get back," John assured them. After he and Maureen spoke to Judy, they would run a test just to make sure then they could make an announcement about her pregnancy.
"Shouldn't we come?" Penny inquired. "We could help you look for Judy."
"No. You two stay here in case she comes back," John commanded. "Call us immediately if she does."
"Keep an eye on the weather," Don added. "Tell us if our instruments pick up anything worse than bad winds and rain."
"Aye aye, Captain," Will joked, making an exaggerated salute.
John reached out to ruffle his hair, grinning at his son's protest that he was getting too old for that. "You're never too old for a little fatherly affection." He then grabbed both Penny and Will in for a hug.
Don watched them, a lump in his throat as his thought about Judy and their unborn baby. It still felt surreal, the idea of them entering parenthood. They had talked about marriage several times, but they hadn't even discussed the matter of children.
Half-afraid he might blurt the secret out, he quickly turned from the scene and marched to where the Chariot was kept. Maureen Robinson was not sitting in the driver's seat. Instead, she was sitting next to it, tapping her fingers on the windowsill. She waited until Don climbed into the vehicle before speaking.
"Where's John?" she questioned.
"I'm sure he'll be along in a minute," Don replied, glancing over his shoulder. "That is if he can stomach working with me without being angry."
"He's not angry," Maureen contradicted. "He's scared of what this will mean. It is new and uncharted territory."
"You think I don't know that. You think I'm not terrified," Don protested.
Maureen sighed. "I know you are. I'm just saying give him some time to adjust."
Don opened his mouth to respond, but John entered the room. "I'll drive."
"I'm already at the wheel," Don intoned. "Just get in the back." He didn't need to look at the professor to know he was getting an annoyed look. However, out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Maureen flashing her husband a warning glance.
John said nothing as he climbed into the middle seat of the Chariot, one directly behind Don. Now that they had all their passengers, Don started up the Chariot and drove it out of the hatch and into the downpour.
As he drove, he noted that the rain was especially thick. No matter how many times the window wipers cleared the windows, the rain would continue to obscure his view.
"Careful," John barked from the backseat as Don nearly hit a bolder. "This is why I said I should drive."
Don gripped the steering wheel so tightly, his knuckles were becoming white. "It isn't my fault the rain is making it impossible to drive."
"If you were a bit more responsible-" the professor started to lecture.
"John," Maureen interjected, her tone admonishing.
"Look out!" John shouted as a blurry shape jumped into the Chariot's path.
Don swerved and ended up crashing the vehicle into a tree. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the Chariot could not start again despite his efforts. Feeling frustrated and angry at his so-called friend continued bad attitude, the major got out and started walking.
"Don, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to find Judy!" Don declared, raising his voice to be heard over the winds.
"Don, you'll be soaked to the bone," Maureen protested. "Come back before you catch a cold or worse pneumonia."
John agreed in spite of being upset. "We should stay inside the Chariot until the storm passes. Judy probably already found shelter."
But Don wasn't listening. He was too determined to find Judy. They needed to be together right now because this was too big for them to deal with alone.